Chapter 21 Doubts

Whether it is mining ore or stationing troops in Gervis' buffer zone, Lanny has broken the unspoken rules recognized by the nobles.

Benny is the captain of the garrison guard in this territory and must patrol the border regularly. Viscount Lanny took out five gold coins to bribe Benny in order to prevent him from reporting the matter to Rose Castle.

"My lord, this Viscount Lanny has violated your rights!" At this time, Thomas also finished reading the contents of the envelope and showed his anger. Whether standing on the standpoint of the earl or the standpoint of the new master Gervis, Thomas felt that his master's interests had been violated.

"Yes, Thomas, the content of the letter has clearly shown that Viscount Lanny has broken the unspoken rules among the nobles! He has dug out the wealth that belongs to me within my buffer zone." Gervis nodded, took back the envelope, looked at the name of Viscount Lanny, and thought about a very important question. However, before that, he still needed to inquire about the specific information of this Viscount Lanny.

"Thomas, have you heard of this Viscount named Lanny?"

"Sir, the soldier being interrogated once confessed that the servant who delivered the letter was from the west. It was because of his confession that I went to the guest room to find this letter!" Thomas answered Gervis respectfully and explained the reason why he was able to find the letter.

After a pause for thought, Thomas seemed to remember something, so he continued: "My lord, I heard a conversation between two noble lords at a banquet in Rose Castle. They talked about a viscount named Lanny to the west of this territory. He is a vassal of another earl of the Principality of Jean. His territory is rich in coal mines, but Viscount Lanny is very stingy. Every time he sells coal to other nobles, he will wet the coal with water in advance to increase the weight. However, because other places rich in coal mines are far away, if you go to other places to buy, the shipping cost will be much higher, so everyone can only buy from Viscount Lanny!"

After listening to Thomas's words, Gervis felt more and more that there was something fishy about Viscount Lanny's actions in the buffer zone.

"Thomas, how much coal can you buy with 5 gold coins!" Gervis suddenly asked.

Thomas, a butler, was obviously very familiar with the purchases and answered Gervis after just a quick calculation.

"Sir, a carriage can carry 500 kilograms of coal ore! 5 gold coins can buy 1,000 carts of coal ore!"

"Viscount Lanny said in the letter that he was also mining coal in the buffer zone, but he took out 5 gold coins to bribe Benny. Is Viscount Lanny a fool?" Gervis sneered, looking at the words on the letter.

The content of the letter does not stand up to scrutiny. Any lord with a bit of brains knows that there is definitely something wrong with the mine. People like Benny are just guards stationed there, and any gains or losses in the buffer zone have nothing to do with him.

But those five gold coins were a real windfall, and he could have swallowed it up as long as he turned a blind eye, so he ignored the information in the letter that could not stand up to scrutiny.

"My lord, Viscount Lanny has to do some tricks before selling the coal mine to others. Obviously he won't be so generous." When Gerves asked how much coal he could buy with 5 gold coins, Thomas had already reacted and understood the meaning of Gerves's question.

"My lord, do we need to send someone to Rose Castle for this matter? Viscount Lanny has obviously infringed upon the interests of the Earl and you!"

"No, don't tell Alice for now. When I go to inspect the territory tomorrow, I will go there to check it out and make plans later!" Gervis shook his head. He didn't want Alice to know about this for the time being.

If Alice knew about this, she would definitely protest to Viscount Lanny's fiefdom.

If the matter gets out of hand and is reported to the king, although Viscount Lanny can be forced to withdraw, if there is really something valuable in the buffer zone, the king will definitely take it for himself, and with justification.

This would not benefit him in any way and would only make him an enemy.

Although Viscount Lanny has now infringed upon his own interests, Gervis wants to know what is in the buffer zone first, so that he can make plans whether to negotiate peacefully or fight to the death.

If there really were good things in the buffer zone, Gervis would want to take them over. Even if he couldn't keep them all to himself, he could suffer a small loss and share the profits with Viscount Lanny. After all, his territory was now penniless and he was in great need of money, and his strength was too weak.

But everything will have to wait until tomorrow to make a decision.

"Yes, sir!" Gervis made the decision, and Thomas certainly had no objection. He could only obey or make suggestions. As for making the decision, only Lord Gervis, the owner of this land, could make it.

"Have the guards who were chasing Benny returned?" Two or three hours had passed, and Gervis had a vague feeling that he might not be able to catch Benny tonight. The territory was so large and it was pitch dark. As long as he was out of sight, they would probably have to wait until dawn to search again!

"My lord, you haven't come back yet!"

After getting Thomas' answer, Gervis nodded to show that he understood, and then ordered: "Thomas, I'm going back to my room to sleep now. If you catch Benny, come and tell me! By the way, let Laurie keep an eye on Benny's men! Don't let him run away!"

"Okay, sir! You can rest assured. If Benny is caught, I will inform you!" Thomas bowed to Gervis, and then seeing that Gervis had stood up, he immediately walked to the door of the study and opened it.

Seeing Thomas open the door, Gervis nodded to him, walked out of the room, and returned to his bedroom.

Although Gervis was still not used to a lifestyle where he even needed servants to help him open the door, he had to admit that Thomas's performance was very good.

For Thomas and his friends, enjoying their service was what nobles should do. If Gervis refused their service, they would be frightened and feel that they had lost the trust of their master.

…

The next day, when Gervis woke up again, the sun had already risen to mid-sky. Too many things happened the night before. When he fell asleep, the sound of roosters crowing could be heard faintly outside the castle.

Fortunately, he was one of the evil nobles in this world, and he could sleep as long as he wanted, and no one dared to control him. Gervis climbed out of the bed, and instead of pulling the string at the head of the bed, he put on his clothes by himself.

When he opened the door, he saw Thomas standing outside. He was surprised to see Gervis come out, and then greeted him: "Sir, good morning! Why didn't you ring the bell!"

The bell Thomas mentioned was hung on the door of Gervis' bedroom, with a string connected to it. As long as he pulled it gently from the inside, Thomas, who was guarding outside the door, would go in and help Gervis get up. This was also the standard way for nobles to get up.

Even if Gervis wanted, he could have breakfast in bed before getting up.

"Oh! I forgot! Don't worry about it, Thomas." Seeing Thomas's surprised face, Gervis replied casually.

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"Thomas, did you catch Benny?"

"Sir, the guards have returned. But they didn't catch Benny! Audrey is waiting to report to you!" Thomas replied respectfully.

"Oh, then let him come to the restaurant to find me!" As expected, since he didn't come back for so long last night, Gervis knew that there was little hope of catching Benny.

This place is different from the ancient times on Earth. In ancient times on Earth, from county towns to capitals, all were protected by city walls. But in this world, except for the great lords and nobles, small nobles like Gervis only have a castle, and the villages in the territory basically have no walls, not even wooden fences. As long as you leave the castle, there is no obstacle that can trap people.

Benny escaped in the middle of the night. There were no flashlights in this world. With a torch, as long as someone ran more than a dozen meters into the jungle, it would be difficult to catch him.

Then, Gervis came to the dining room. No one knew when Gervis would get up, and there were not many servants in the castle. When Gervis arrived at the dining room, Jimmy realized that he had already gotten up. He immediately took out the food that had been prepared in the kitchen and placed it on the long table.

"Well, Jimmy, in addition to barbecue, the meat and vegetable soup you cook are also good. I will teach you some new dishes next time!" While eating, Gervis did not hesitate to praise. Jimmy, who was standing by the long table, was all smiles at the moment.

Gervis was very glad that he had a good cook, otherwise even the food would not be up to the standard of his previous life, and he would not be a perfect noble. It was a pity that there seemed to be no rice in this world, otherwise Gervis would be even happier. After all, he grew up eating rice, and suddenly eating bread every day was a bit uncomfortable.

"My dear sir, it is my greatest honor to serve you!" Jimmy bowed quickly after receiving Gervis' praise.

"Don't be modest, you deserve this compliment. When the castle recruits servants, I will let Thomas help you pick a few apprentices, so that you can have an easier time!" Jimmy is the only chef in the castle now. In addition to cooking for Gervis, Jimmy also needs to cook for Thomas and the guards, so the kitchen is in urgent need of manpower.

"Thank you for your understanding, sir!"

Gervis stopped talking and began to work hard to finish the food. He still had a lot of things to do today. First, he had to find the location of the red dot under the pretext of patrolling the territory to see what it was.

Then he needed to understand the situation in several villages in the territory, and finally he had to go to the place where Viscount Lanny was mining ore in the buffer zone.

"My Lord Baron!" After Gervis ate for a while, Audrey, who was in charge of leading the team to hunt down Benny, came to Gervis and saluted carefully.

"Tell me about your arrest!" Gervis nodded to him, his tone calm, and he did not take his anger out on Audrey because of Benny's escape.

(End of this chapter)